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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29376330">IX</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uchihas_rose/pseuds/Uchihas_rose'>Uchihas_rose</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes &amp; Related Fandoms</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(kind of), Alternate Universe - Magic, Animal Transformation, Castle Magic, Character Death, Elementary Magic, Enemies to Lovers, Forbidden Love, Gen, M/M, POV Jim Moriarty, POV Sebastian Moran, Time Skips, Why Jim is called Moriarty</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:21:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,726</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29376330</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uchihas_rose/pseuds/Uchihas_rose</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sebastian Moran &amp; Jim Moriarty, Sebastian Moran/James Moriarty, Sebastian Moran/Jim Moriarty</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>IX</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The chatter of the birds outside the castle walls startled him. Blinking, he looked around, not having realised how late – or rather, how early – it had gotten again. The candles must have burnt out hours ago, by the look of the wick resting like a forgotten black worm underneath the glass cover.</p><p>Sebastian yawned, stretching his aching limbs, and rubbing his eyes. The book he had been studying was still lying open before him and he tried to remember what he had been last reading about. The book itself was focusing on elementary magic, magic drawn from the magician’s surroundings, bending the forces of wind, earth, fire, water and even the mind to their master’s will.</p><p>A dangerous art, for which its participants faced severe punishments, from incarceration or whippings to deaths. The book listed the elementary magicians as outcasts who had been forced to leave the cities for fear of being betrayed by those closest to them… But still, even then they had been hunted down like animals, dragged back before the king to face punishment…</p><p>The last elementary magician to be caught by the royal guard had been burnt to death shortly after Sebastian’s birth, he had been told. Nobody knew if that man had really been the last elementary magician or if they had just gotten better at hiding.</p><p>Sebastian suggested the latter. By now, the elementi must have found a way to melt into the woods, disguising themselves as trees or rocks, even animals. They were careful not to be seen, knowing the fate that would be awaiting them if they were caught.</p><p>The court wizards disagreed with Sebastian on that matter, telling him over and over again that there were no more elementi, that their own magic was strong enough to unveil the elementi's tricks and curses…</p><p>But Sebastian knew it wasn’t true. He had seen an elementum, just a few weeks ago and now he was looking up every information he could find on them.</p><p>Without wanting to, his fingers brushed his ribs, the small spot where the skin still was slightly rough.</p><p>When Sebastian healed a wound, he could simply heal the surface, avoiding it to fester. He couldn’t  do much more, not without any spells, herbs or tinctures and he clearly couldn’t create skin tissue out of nowhere…</p><p>But that had been exactly what he had happened, that day in the woods…</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>He had been out gathering herbs needed for a child in the village that had come down with a fever. He had been so occupied with his task that he hadn’t heard the pig storming out of the trees behind him. Sebastian didn’t know if the boar had been in panic or if Sebastian had unknowingly gotten too close to its family’s hiding place; he just remembered a blur of black coarse fur and shimmering tusks charging at him and the next thing he knew was lying flat on his back, his side ripped open and blood pouring out of the wound. He remembered thinking how beautiful the red had looked on the dark green leaves around him, before he had passed out from shock.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>[I]An unfamiliar presence had brought him back to his senses, a ripping sound, the sensation of skin on his skin. The sun had already started to set and it had been difficult to see, but there had been a hooded figure next to him whose hand was touching Sebastian’s naked skin. He remembered how warm it had felt, how long and pale the hooded figure’s fingers had been. The person had never, not once removed their hood or spoken, so Sebastian hadn’t been able to tell if it was a man or a woman, but although the person hadn’t been tall, he was certain it hadn’t been a child. Sebastian’s entire skin had prickled under the hooded figure’s touch, in a very different way than normally when he touched someone. The figure had touched the unharmed skin on Sebastian’s ribs, right next to the wound and then… </em>
</p><p>
  <em>[I]Sebastian knew that if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would have never believed someone who had told him what had happened next.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>[I]The figure had pushed the skin over Sebastian’s wound together again and Sebastian had seen skin tissue growing back from the corners of the wound, covering the open flesh until nothing reminded of the hole the boar had torn into Sebastian’s side anymore, nothing but a tiny spot where skin felt a bit rough. Sebastian had watched the wound heal itself in such fascination that he never noticed his saviour leave. Only a faint rustle of leaves and the sudden snap of a twig brought Sebastian’s attention back to the present, but by then the person had been gone already and even though Sebastian had been searching for them – he had needed no recovery time at all, it was as if he had never been attacked at all – he could not find any sign or trace, so eventually, he had to give up and returned to the castle… </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ever since, Sebastian had spent hours in the library, learning as much about elementary magic as he could. He knew that elementary magic was a natural magic, meaning an individual was born with that magic and it was impossible for anyone else to learn how to master it, unlike the spells Sebastian and the rest of the court wizards used.</p><p>Sebastian sighed, clapped the book shut and whispered a spell which returned the book to its original place in the library. He was starving; frustration always made him hungry and right now, he was very frustrated. This book had been the last one to hold information on elementary magic and it had been of no use, just like all the others.</p><p>Maybe he should just take some provisions and a horse and go out to search for the elementum himself. But how was he supposed to find someone who obviously didn’t want to be found? Maybe if he’d use a presence spell? The other court wizards had tried to do so many times without any results and since presence spells were part of highly advanced magic, it had been proof enough for the king that there were no more elementary magicians left. Plus, hadn’t it been a presence spell which had helped the court wizards to capture the last elementum all those years ago?</p><p>Sebastian didn’t quite remember, but he was too hungry to conjure up a spell that would bring the book back to him. After refilling the candles with a short mutter – Magnussen would be pissed if he didn’t refill the candles before leaving the library and Sebastian knew better than to anger him – he picked up his cloak he had been using as a blanket and threw it around his shoulders; his stomach growling loudly to hurry him up.</p><p>Sebastian closed the door behind him and quickly made his way towards the kitchens and the dining hall, to quieten the monster that seemed to have nested down inside of him.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>After two weeks, it was difficult remembering how to keep his conscious separate from the magpie he was currently occupying. He had to leave the bird eventually, Jim knew, but it was better to stay clear of the rest of the tribe for a while. He had taken every possible precaution, he had hidden his face, he hadn’t spoken… The castle wizard had no way of identifying him. Even if he’d know that Jim was with the Tribe, how would he able to identify Jim? Maybe he’d just think he had been hallucinating? Jim hoped he would. How was he supposed to explain the Tribe otherwise that he had broken one of the most important rules of their ways?</p><p>It would have been so easy to kill him… Reach for his heart, increasing its rate, so he would bleed out faster – or just stop it completely without him ever being the wiser, never seeing it coming… Hiding the body would have been easy enough – just having a tree’s roots wrapping around him… The castellum would have never noticed what’d be happening to him… Not until he’d be well below ground, gasping for precious air while screaming his lungs out…</p><p>Jim was familiar with death. He had seen it happening to multiple people of the Tribe or to animals. He knew what death felt like, because he had been occupying animals in the moment of their death. Sometimes, he had been the reason they died. He had killed humans, too – nothing was easier than killing humans.</p><p>The rest of the tribe called him “mori art ti” because he was so skilful at inflicting death that they started to consider it an artistic skill and over time, “mori art ti” had started to sound a lot like “Moriarty”, so Jim had adapted it as his surname.</p><p>He wore it with pride, loving to see the short flicker of fear and respect in the eyes of the Tribe members when they heard his name.</p><p>Had that castellus any idea of how close he had been to death? Probably not.</p><p>Jim still didn’t know why he had left the boar’s body after inflicting the successful attack. Maybe because he had expected the castellus to move instead of standing there like an idiot while a wild boar charged at him.</p><p>He shouldn’t have healed him. What if some other member of the Tribe had been around, occupying the body of birds surrounding them? They would know what he had done.</p><p>[I]No mercy. Never.</p><p>What had driven him to show mercy to a castellum? Was it because of the herbs he had gathered, herbs to bring down a fever? Or had it been something else?</p><p>[I]No. No mercy, no sentiment. No feelings. Not towards castelli. Never.</p><p>Jim flinched, causing the magpie to flap its wings and let out an irritated caw.</p><p>It had not been sentiment. He was not showing sentiment to the people who had killed his father. So why hadn’t he killed him?</p><p> </p><p>It was a good question, a very good question, but Jim had no answer to it. No answer that would satisfy the Tribe, however.</p><p>No, the Tribe would not understand why Jim had let a castellus go, let alone healed his wounds. Jim didn’t understand it himself.</p><p>There had to be a reason for his action, Jim knew. The Tribe had no room for sentiment. Their own survival had to come first and sometimes, that put the good of the many over the good of one individual. Jim had grown up with those rules and he had respected them all his life. Until now.</p><p>Until that blond idiotic castle wizard had let himself been gutted by a wild boar.</p><p>The magpie’s wings fluttered again hectically, and her angry chatter filled the trees for a moment.</p><p>No. Jim would not be making that mistake again. Next time, he would finish the job, do what was expected of him to protect the tribe.</p><p>Preparing himself for the consequences his actions would be having now, he let the magpie stretch its wings and flew back down from the tree.</p><p>The bird started pecking for invisible insects on the ground and Jim left the magpie’s body. A soft flimmering of the air around the bird, as it happened sometimes on extremely hot days, shimmering rainbow coloured for a moment, before the spot grew, changing colours and took the shape of a human body. The magpie took flight upon Jim’s appearance next to it, cawing in alert. Animals never noticed it when the Tribe occupied their bodies, but when they left, it was a different matter.</p><p>Jim didn’t bother himself with the angry bird whose alarm cry had been passed on to every animal around for four miles and rose slowly, brushing a streak of black hair out of his face. He wouldn’t have to search for the Tribe – the Tribe knew how to find its own while staying hidden from the castle wizards' prying eyes. Luckily, they weren’t using Presence spells anymore, believing the Tribe to be gone for good and luckily, the Tribe had learnt that the castelli couldn’t find them if they were occupying an animal's body.</p><p>He wrapped his wolfskin cloak tighter around himself, then he sat down, his legs crossed, hands resting on his knees, and waited.</p><p>A fox emerged from the woods in front him, sitting back on its haunches for a moment. Jim watched the Tribe member leave their animal, forming the shape of a slender woman who wore her black hair up. She smiled thinly when she saw Jim.</p><p>“You’re hard to find, Jim. I’ve been looking for you for two weeks.”</p><p>“I did not want to be found”, Jim simply responded, not moving a muscle, “that’s kind of the point of disappearing suddenly without any trace, Irene.”</p><p>“Apparently, you did now.”</p><p>Jim didn’t answer. With a sigh, he got up, ignoring Irene's outstretched hand and brushed a few leaves from his coat, before he followed Irene between the thick undergrowth, back to the Tribe's hideout, avoiding the woman’s glances. She knew something was up, but she wouldn’t question him.</p><p>Jim grinded his teeth.</p><p>
  <em>Stupid idiot! Stupid idiotic castle wizard!</em>
</p><p>Why was he so furious, though? It was not like he would see the idiot again anyways, was it?  Not even a castle wizard could be stupid enough to charge into the woods and look for someone he didn’t even know, let alone what he looked like.</p><p>He had been careful. They couldn’t be found. They wouldn’t.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“You’re insane! You’ve completely lost it!”</p><p>John was shaking his head, glaring at Sebastian and gesturing vigorously with his fork in the air. Bits of meat flew across the room, landing on the ground and in Sebastian’s soup, but John didn’t seem to notice. He was looking at Sebastian furiously, seemingly torn between bursting out laughing and slapping Sebastian’s face, maybe stabbing him with the fork in the process.</p><p>Sebastian wiped a bit splashed soup off his cheek.</p><p>“You have said so three times within the last ten sentences, thank you so much, I think I got it by now”, he said sarcastically.</p><p>John groaned. “You must hear for yourself how idiotic that sounds, right?! No one in his right mind would go and look for those bloody elementi! If you are so eager to die, why don’t you just rub yourself in honey and wait for a bear? I am sure that would be a lot less painful. Or, even better, find a dragon to roast you!”</p><p>“There are no more dragons”, Sebastian said.</p><p>“Neither are elementary magicians!”</p><p>“I know what I’ve seen”, Sebastian insisted. He pulled up his shirt, showing John the scar on his side.</p><p>“Look! That’s not made by herbs or a spell! That wasn’t done with any magic we have knowledge of! I told you, he pushed the skin together and-“</p><p>“How can you know it was a he?”, John interrupted, “I thought you couldn’t see any face?”</p><p>Sebastian shrugged. “I... I just know, okay? It’s a feeling. He could have let me die, but he didn’t! Why would he heal me?”</p><p>“How am I supposed to know what’s going on in your imaginary elementary magician's head?”, John grumbled and turned his attention back to his meal, “I think it’s stupid to go out and look for someone who doesn’t exist and probably doesn’t want to be found. What are you going to do if you should by some happenstance actually find him? If you don’t capture him and bring him back here, you are committing treason!”</p><p>Sebastian rose from his chair.</p><p>“You are not going to stop me, John. I am going to find him.”</p><p>But what he’d do after, he couldn’t say.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Sebastian filled the saddle bags with some hard cheese, dried meat and bread he had stolen from the kitchens, before adding some more grain and made sure his water bag was filled as well. He also checked that his magical first aid kit was safely secured and the spell protecting his belongings from thievery were still intact. He petted his horse’s neck soothingly, before swinging atop the gelding's back, leaving the stables. The guards would let him pass without questioning, it was common for the wizards to leave the castle and go looking for herbs. Even he’d been out for a few days, no one would be suspicious. Some herbs needed to be harvested by night or a certain moonlight – no, no one would ask about his whereabouts. The guards had seen him leave on horseback; they would only get suspicious if he was away for more than a few weeks or if his horse would return without him.</p><p>
  <em>Which gave him enough time to figure out where his saviour had vanished to and – if he was lucky – get a chance for a proper thank you.  </em>
</p><p>Elementi or not, Sebastian was raised with proper manners and the elementus had saved his life, after all. It was the right thing to do, he told himself over and over again. He was definitely not doing it because he wanted to see the elementus – well, he couldn’t quite say “again”; he hadn’t actually seen him, after all… However, though, no, that was not the reason for his search.</p><p>
  <em>Absolutely not!</em>
</p><p>But where to start searching? The most logical solution would be the clearing where he had been attacked by the boar, but this time, he would be more careful. He didn’t want to be half killed again. Something told him the elemetus wouldn’t be saving him this time if he’d decide to freeze in front of a charging beast again and the castle wizards were hunting the elementi, so it was more than improbable that he’d just magically appear out of nowhere.  The elementi had their own special magic, as Sebastian had witnessed himself. He chewed his lower lip thoughtfully. Maybe it was better to return to the castle and stop this foolishness…</p><p>Sebastian shook his head vigorously, so hard that his horse snorted in alert and raised its head. Petting its neck calmingly, he exhaled deeply. He would not allow thoughts like that. Searching for the elementus was the right thing to do – wasn’t it?</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Jim yawned, stretching his tired muscles. He had to stand guard all night, as form of punishment for leaving the Tribe without any information on his whereabouts for two weeks. He wanted nothing more but to take a rest and get some sleep...</p><p>Something moved inside the forest. Jim felt his tiredness vanish all of a sudden; alerted, he raised his head, resting a hand on the tree next to him, feeling down for the root network inside the forest. Something was moving around, something with hooves, but too big for a deer. Not a stag, either - the hooves’ shape was wrong, too.</p><p>He focused more, trying to make out the shape of the creature. It definitely had four legs and hooves.</p><p>
  <em>A horse.</em>
</p><p>Jim quickly checked if it was more than the one, another search party the King might have sent out to hunt for the Tribe, but he found no trace, neither horse nor human soldiers. So it was just the one. What was he doing here? He wasn’t using any of the wooden paths travellers normally used and was coming from the wrong direction – from the castle, not towards it.</p><p>Jim closed his eyes, sighing quietly to himself.</p><p>
  <em>No. By the Gods, no.</em>
</p><p>Not even a castellus could be that stupid! Not even the biggest idiot up the castle could be so stupid!</p><p>He had to make sure. He had to be certain, had to convince himself with his own eyes that there actually could be a living human being that stupid.</p><p>Jim spotted a magpie sitting on a nearby pine tree and unified his consciousness with the bird’s, taking flight immediately afterwards, searching for the horse and its rider, still in disbelief.</p><p>What was that blond jerk thinking?! Hadn’t almost being killed once not enough for him? Was he having some sort of death wish or was he just simple-minded?</p><p>Well, hopefully, Jim would find out soon. Either way, this time he could not show him any mercy. The Tribe was watching; he had seen Irene’s fox straying around as well.</p><p> </p><p>Around him, the forest’s nightlife retreated, making room for the birds and insects. Jim fought the urge to let them feast on a careless caterpillar which was enjoying the first rays of sunlight and seemed completely oblivious for any potential birds of prey flying around, searching for the horse and its rider.</p><p>He would have to kill the horse first; the animal would panic if he’d try to take its rider out and unless there was a huge group of riders, a panicking horse would be of no good to anyone. It would only provoke unwanted attention and the Tribe was famous for its silent and unnoticeable ways of killing.</p><p>The risky part however, was shifting animals. It was impossible for the Tribe to neatly change from occupying one animal to the other; they had to leave an animal first – and that meant they were traceable by Presence Spells.</p><p>Jim cursed. Why did that bloody idiot had to return?!</p><p>He spotted the horse, luckily far away from the Tribe’s camp and not even going anywhere near that direction.</p><p>Jim exhaled slowly. He had to work fast now, very fast.</p><p>He left the magpie’s body; the bird screeched in alarm, the horse neighed, alerted – and the wizard did what any reasonable castle wizard would be doing in that situation.</p><p>[I]Casting a Presence Spell.</p><p>Jim felt the spell trace over him like a bucket of icy water, knowing he deserved it. The magpie was long gone, too far to be reached and a panicking animal couldn’t be occupied, because it was too sensitive to its surroundings in those moments and would fight the presence of another soul. In an attempt of desperation, Jim clung to the only thing nearby that wasn’t panicking at the moment, but the Shields the castellus had surrounding him would take too much time in bringing down – and before he could even begin in doing so, he felt another spell reaching for him, immobilising him.</p><p>
  <em>No. Gods be dammed, no! </em>
</p><p>Invisible chains held his wrists and ankles; he saw the idiot calm his horse gently, before dismounting and walking over to his prisoner.</p><p>Jim cursed quietly, fighting his restrains. He deserved this. He had been too bold in his abilities; he had been stupid enough to let his curiosity get the better of him – and a complete idiot in the first place for ever saving the life of a castle wizard.</p><p>He would pay for his stupidity, he knew, and it would serve him right. Hopefully, Irene hadn’t been using the root network as well and was watching from somewhere... He could face death, but he couldn’t face the thought that Irene had seen him, one of the Tribe’s most skilled members, helplessly in the clutches of a castle wizard after such foolish behaviour.</p><p>The castellus was standing right in front him now. Jim wondered if he would kill him by himself. Would he question him? If the idiot brought him back to the castle, he most certainly would. The good thing was that the Tribe moved camp every night, so they couldn’t torture him into giving that information.</p><p>The other man tilted his head slightly, watching Jim for a moment, before he brushed down Jim’s hood with a flicker of his hand. For a moment, he looked almost surprised. Then, a broad grin appeared on his face.</p><p>“I knew it!”, the castellus said, sounding extremely pleased with himself, “I knew you were a guy!”</p><p>Jim felt his mouth clap open, staring at the other wizard in surprise.</p><p>Of all the things he had expected to hear now – questioning, death threats, Why did you save me? – this had definitely not been on the list.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Sebastian was unable to hide the grin on his face. He was just so happy for being right – it had been an elementus who had saved him. There was no other solution; he wasn’t from the village, the village people couldn’t use magic and it clearly hadn’t been any kind of magic which was taught at the Academy. No, that kind of magic could not be taught from any books; it was a form of pure natural energy Sebastian had never seen before.</p><p>Judging by the look on his face, the elementus didn’t quite know what to make of Sebastian’s behaviour. He stared at him in surprise, mouth gaping open, not saying a word. Sebastian wondered if he even understood him. Did the elementi use the same language as they did at the castle? Maybe they had developed their own language, after living in the forest for so long? Maybe they communicated by using animal sounds?</p><p>Sebastian cawed slightly, mimicking a raven or a crow. The elementus’s brows furrowed slightly, but he still made no sound.</p><p>Sebastian tried again, shifting in frequencies to make sure it had been a question. The elemetus still didn’t bat an eyelash.</p><p>Alright, apparently the elementi didn’t communicated with bird sounds, then... Should he try a deer, maybe? Or a wolf?</p><p>“Are you really some kind of idiot or do you just act like one?”, the elementus asked in that moment and now it was Sebastian’s turn to gape with his mouth open.</p><p>“You- You can talk?”, he spluttered out the very first thing that came to his mind.</p><p>Judging by the elementus's annoyed eye-roll, Sebastian had just labelled himself an actual idiot in the eyes of the other man.</p><p>“No”, he responded, sarcasm dripping like venom from his mouth, “you’re dreaming. Hallucinations from a poison I injected you with just now. By breathing on you, in case you were wondering.”</p><p>Sebastian took a step back, uncertainly glancing at the elementus, trying to decide if he was joking or actually could breathe poison. Didn’t Sebastian’s limbs start to feel a bit numb, too?</p><p>The other rolled his eyes again.</p><p>“Dear Gods, you castelli really believe anything, do you? I obviously can’t breathe poison, idiot. And of course I can talk, what do you think I am? Some brainless stone?”</p><p>Sebastian felt his ears redden slightly. The elementus didn’t behave the way Sebastian had expected him to. Why was he so embarrassed by the other man, though? The elementus was his prisoner, was he not?</p><p>“What’s your name?”, he heard himself ask, “you’re the one who helped me a few weeks ago, aren’t you? When I got attacked by that boar? There was an elementus, who saved my life by healing my wounds. I studied magic at the Academy and what that person used was no academic's magic. You were the one who helped me, weren’t you? I know it was you!”</p><p>His prisoner just looked at him, rolling his eyes again.</p><p>“Isn’t that quite a lot of questions?”, he asked, “and you are even a bigger idiot than I thought if you seriously are stupid enough to go back into the heart of the forest to search for someone who might or might not have saved your life. I can assure you, the person who saved you won’t be so stupid to do it again...”</p><p>“So it was you!”, Sebastian called out in triumph and the elementus bit his lip in anger, “I knew I wasn’t crazy!”</p><p>“I’d be careful with that declaration”, the elementus advised dryly, “your current behaviour might lead people to believe the opposite.”</p><p>Sebastian blinked.</p><p>“If you are going to continue to insult me, you could at least tell me your name!”</p><p>The elementus tilted his head, unblinking.</p><p>“It is polite to introduce yourself first before asking someone else’s name.”</p><p>Sebastian arched an eyebrow.</p><p>“You are my prisoner. There is no need for me to be polite.”</p><p>“I saved your life”, the elementus responded, mimicking Sebastian’s facial expression, “is a little gratitude too much to ask of an idiotic castellus?”</p><p>“Stop insulting me! I am not an idiot!”</p><p>“You are not doing much to prove me wrong in that point!”</p><p>Sebastian sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose in irritation.</p><p>Were all elementary magicians such insufferable know-it-alls? If that was the case, Sebastian could to some extend understand why the king did not want them anywhere near his kingdom.</p><p>“Sebastian Augusts Moran”, he said hesitantly, “I am with the Royal Magician Court, but you obviously know that... And, contrary to your belief, I am not an idiot! I caught you after all, didn’t I?”</p><p>The elemetus rolled his eyes.</p><p>“Jim Moriarty”, he answered eventually, just as unwilling as Sebastian had been, “I am obviously not with the Royal Magician Court, but you know that yourself. And you only managed to capture me because I was miscalculating things, which does not make you any less of an idiot. Someone who’s stupid enough to go back into the centre of the forest after almost being killed the first time, is clearly not someone of great intelligence.”</p><p>Sebastian opened his mouth in protest and closed it again, shaking his head.</p><p>“You are unbelievable!”</p><p>Jim just shrugged, clearly not bothered by Sebastian’s reaction.</p><p>“Maybe. And you have a pretty weird way of repaying me for saving your life, you know. You do owe me something, so how about you just let me go, return to the castle and we can forget we ever ran into each other? The next time you decide to stand frozen in front of a wild boar again, I will no interfere at all and just let you bleed to death. Would that be sufficient to you?”</p><p>Sebastian fought down a chuckle, wondering if all elementary magicians had such a mouth on them. He would be lying if he said there wasn’t... something about the other man.</p><p>“Maybe I am just holding you prisoner now because otherwise, you would run away?”, he asked and noticing Jim’s eyes flicker around nervously when he asked the question, he knew that had been his intention.</p><p>“I am not going to take you back to the castle with me”, he said and only when he said the words out loud he knew that he had never had any intention of delivering Jim to the king. The elementus had saved his life, after all – he would not repay him by sentencing him to death.</p><p>Jim snorted, rolling his eyes. It was clear that he didn’t believe him and Sebastian could totally understand it. If he was in Jim’s position, he probably wouldn’t have believed it either.</p><p>“Look”, he said, looking closely at the smaller man, “I am going to release the spell-“</p><p>He had to pause, because Jim had burst out in laughter. Exhaling slowly, he waited until the other had stopped, before continuing his sentence as if he hadn’t been interrupted.</p><p>“- if you promise not to just run off immediately afterwards. I have been looking for you, yes, I admit it, but not because I wanted to capture you. I wanted to thank you for saving my life and I can understand that it might be a bit... difficult to believe if I am still keeping you trapped with a spell. So... could you please just wait for a second?”</p><p>Jim’s black eyes focused intensely on Sebastian for a moment, scrutinizing his face carefully.</p><p>Sebastian wondered if he was reading his mind. Could the elementi really do that or was it just a myth?</p><p>He muttered quietly, releasing the Binding Spell he had put on Jim, watching him slowly lowering his arms again, rubbing his wrists.</p><p>Sebastian almost expected Jim to vanish into thin air, to disappear as suddenly as he had appeared earlier but he either couldn’t do it or was actually trusting Sebastian’s word.</p><p>Nervously, he bit his lip, inhaling deeply before he looked back at Jim’s face.</p><p>“Thank you for saving my life. I am sure you must have taken a great risk in doing so – I mean... You could have just decided to let me die out there. It would have taken weeks for anyone to find me. So... I guess – that’s it? You can go now; I’ll pretend I’ve never even met you...”</p><p>There was a long silence and Sebastian almost expected Jim to simply disappear without saying anything, but instead, he felt a warm touch to his skin.</p><p>Jim was watching him, his head tilted slightly.</p><p>“You are weird, for a castellus”, he said, “you are not at all what I expected. Maybe that’s why I saved you in the first place... Take care, though. I am not going to do it again and if the tribe finds you... Well, let’s just say, I doubt they would be much nicer to you than your kind would be to me.”</p><p>He looked around as if he could see something among the trees Sebastian couldn’t.</p><p>“You better go now”, he muttered, “if my people find you, I won’t be able to help you. I broke the Tribe’s rules for you once already. I am not going to do it again.”</p><p> </p><p>And before Sebastian could say anything further, Jim was gone. Only moments later, a magpie rose from the pines, chattering noisily, but of course, Sebastian couldn’t say for sure if it was Jim. He climbed back on his horse and returned to the castle, his heart beating surprisingly fast. He had a feeling that it wasn’t simply because he had been right about Jim being an elementus. There was something else, but he didn’t dare to follow that thought further, for fear what it might be leading to.</p><p>It couldn’t lead to anything, could it? Jim was right – neither one of the people they were with would  be very supportive of them starting... Something.</p><p>But still... Sebastian felt a weird longing inside him, that called for him to turn his horse around, track Jim down and just- Just be close to him. Be near him. See what could become of this... something he was feeling when he thought of Jim.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The fox was following him when he flew through the forest, always staying close to him, keeping an eye on him.</p><p>Jim sighed. He knew it. He knew Irene would be following him. He knew she would have seen him...</p><p>Not too far from the camp, he paused, left the magpie’s body and waited.</p><p>As usual, it didn’t took Irene long to find him. Sometimes, he considered it exceptional how easy and how fast she could do so. Maybe she made use of the fox’s senses; it would be the normal thing to do.</p><p>He watched her leave the fox, sitting down next to him. For a while, she was quiet. This was rather untypical for her.</p><p>They sat together in silence for a long time, before Irene finally spoke: “The Tribe is not going to like this.”</p><p>Jim shook his head. “No, they won’t.”</p><p>Once more, all that was audible around them were the animals and the wind rushing in the trees.</p><p>“This won’t end well”, Irene said eventually, “you know that. Either the Tribe is going to kill him or the castelli are going to kill you.”</p><p>A muscle in Jim’s jaw twitched.</p><p>“You don’t have to remind me of that, Irene. I am well aware of the risks.”</p><p>“But you still plan on seeing him again. At least, that’s what you wish for.”</p><p>Jim didn’t even try to deny it. He knew Irene wouldn’t believe it, anyways. He wasn’t even sure if he would be believing it himself.</p><p>Even though it would be damned for failure from the start. They had to enjoy it as long as it would last, hadn’t they?</p><p>In the world they lived in, life could be over every other second. The goal was to make the best out of it.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Two years later</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Jim straightened the earth once again, his face unmoving. No emotion was visible, not even in his eyes. He wiped his fingers off his trousers, rising from the ground.</p><p>Sebastian was standing not too far away; his face stone. He avoided looking at Jim.</p><p>Jim faced Sebastian, pushing his chin out slightly. For a moment, the two men were just looking at each other without saying a word.</p><p>Finally, Sebastian cleared his throat, turning his gaze away from Jim’s face.</p><p>“So... This is it then, I guess? It’s over now?”</p><p>“It was always meant to end one way or the other”, Jim responded, his voice flat, “it could have been one of us who’d be lying down there now. For all I know, it should have. That would be making things a lot easier now.”</p><p>“Easier?!”, Sebastian’s voice had gotten bitter, “a man is dead, Jim! A man I grew up with is dead! Murdered! Because you-“</p><p>“Because I did what I had to do!”, Jim interrupted, his voice icy, “I did what I should have done two years ago.”</p><p>He shook his head.</p><p>“This has been a mistake. I am not blaming you, this is on me. I should have never saved you that day. It went against everything I was ever taught.”</p><p>“Are you aware of how sick this is?”, Sebastian hissed back, “why didn’t you do it then, instead of saving my life and making me run around the woods searching for you like some kind of pet?”</p><p>“I never asked you to come and thank me for being stupid enough to save your life!”, Jim shouted, “no one asked you to come back! I didn’t want you to come back!”</p><p>He paused, glancing at the grave underneath the tree roots.</p><p>“And you are not the only one who has lost someone! I’ve lost a member of my family as well, did you forget that? And she didn’t start it! Irene did not-”</p><p>“She did not?! For the love of God, John thought he was killing a fox! How the hell was he supposed to know there was an elementi in there? It’s not like you can see it, is it? That was no reason for you to-“</p><p>“I was doing what I had to do”, Jim responded, “I was doing what I was taught to do! I was defending the Tribe.”</p><p>Sebastian didn’t know what to say. Eventually, he shook his head and turned around, making sure John’s corpse was tied tightly to his horse.</p><p>“The king was right”, he said, not turning around, “your kind is dangerous. You can’t be trusted.”</p><p> </p><p>A gust of wind whirled up against his back; Sebastian quickly brought his Shields up to keep his balance, before he turned around to look at Jim. His eyes were cold.</p><p>“That is exactly what I was talking about. You’re incapable of loving anyone. I am not even sure if it’s your fault, but-“</p><p>He couldn’t finish his sentence. A coughing fit came over him and when he moved his hand away from his lips, it was covered in small red dots.</p><p>Jim just looked at him, arms crossed over his chest, eyes focusing only on Sebastian.</p><p>Sebastian coughed again, the taste of blood in his mouth. He could smell it on his hands, feel it filling his lungs. He was still looking at Jim, forming words, but only an incomprehensible gurgle came from his lips, followed by another cough of blood. He could feel it slowly rising inside his lungs. Breathing became impossible.</p><p>The last thing he saw was Jim’s face, hearing his voice: “That’s why they call me Moriarty, you know.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Jim looked at the corpse in front of him, touching his face one final time before the warmth left the body.</p><p>“You were wrong in one thing...”, he muttered quietly, pressing his lips to Sebastian’s, “I did love you. Always. I did not want things to end this way.”</p><p>One last time, he stroked Sebastian’s cheek, before he turned around, taking the corpse with him.</p><p>He would bury him, someplace where no one would ever find him, where time and animals couldn’t hurt him.</p><p>
  <em>And some day, if the Gods were good, they could be together again, without fear, without prejudice. Without any differences or hatred for who they were.</em>
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